It Starts With A Bang
by GreyWho13
Summary: A bomb goes off at NCIS early one morning. Was anyone inside? Who may have been hurt? You'll have to read to find out! Tiva and McAbby! But mostly Tiva . Rated T to be safe.
1. Ch 1 Early Rising

**Disclaimer: Don't own the show or the characters, sadly! :(**

**Please read and review! I may not be able to update for a while because I have mid-terms next week but I will do my best! And to those of you who are reading my other fic, Guns and Grudges, I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO extremely sorry that I haven't updated in AGES. I've just been busy after starting school. But I promise to get an update in sometime within this next week (possibly next Friday or Saturday, okay?) Again, very sorry for the huge delay. Anyway, please enjoy the first chapter!**

**~NZA :)**

* * *

Tony DiNozzo groaned and rolled on his side, reaching for the ringing phone on the table next to his bed. He hated Mondays and this one was no exception. He grabbed his phone and glanced at his alarm clock. "Five-thirty!" he groaned again and flipped open the noisy phone.

"DiNozzo," he mumbled into the receiver, rubbing his hand over his face in an attempt to rid himself of the sleepiness he felt.

"DiNozzo, get your ass out of bed and to the Navy Yard!" the voice on the other end yelled.

"Boss? It's only five-thirty! I just-"

"Somebody blew up part of the NCIS building!"

Tony was fully awake now, pulling on clothes with one hand and juggling his cell phone in the other. "I'll be right there, boss!" He paused for a moment before saying, "Was…was anyone hurt? Was anyone inside?"

"I don't know yet, DiNozzo, just get down here," Gibbs replied, his voice a bit softer than before.

Tony shut his phone, grabbed his bag, wallet, badge, and gun and ran out the door of his apartment and down the stairs to the parking lot. When he arrived at NCIS, he pulled to stop and got out of the car, trotting over to where Gibbs, McGee, Vance, and Ducky stood surrounded by other NCIS employees, FBI agents, bomb squad people, and several cars, emergency vehicles, and the like.

"Hey, I'm here, boss. When did this happen?" Tony said, out of breath and in shock at everything that was going on around him.

Vance turned to him, as did the others. "Glad you could make it, Agent DiNozzo. I got a call about a half hour ago. It didn't happen much longer before that. Judging by the destruction, bomb squad says the bomb was probably placed somewhere in the squad room. They can't go in until the fire department clears it but the flames have died down. Mr. Palmer and Ms. Sciuto were called and are on their way. The only people we know of that were inside so far were the security personnel and one janitor on the main floor and all of them are fine. We weren't able to get a hold of Agent David."

McGee spoke up. "I've been attempting to call her but so far, no answer. Maybe she has her phone off?" He had a worried look on his face, and so did the other members of their small group.

Just then, a tired and confused Jimmy Palmer, with a frantic-looking Abby not far behind, came running up to them.

"Gibbs!" Abby shouted, slamming into the silver-haired team leader and wrapping him in a suffocating embrace. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! How could this happen? Who would do this? Is anyone hurt? Have they found anyone inside? If they have, are they okay? Oh my God, oh my God, I can't believe this happened, Gibbs!"

Gibbs put an arm around her reassuringly. "It'll be okay, Abs. They aren't allowed inside yet, we don't know if anyone was in there. Breathe, calm down."

Abby sighed and pulled away, looking at her coworkers that stood around her with varying facial expressions. "Okay," she said. As she stared at the faces of her friends, Abby realized one face in particular was missing, Ziva's. "Where's Ziva?" she asked tentatively.

Nobody said anything at first. Then McGee spoke up, "She…Well we tried calling her several times but she hasn't picked up. Um, I'm thinking maybe her phone's just off?" He shrugged his shoulders but the look on face told everyone that he wasn't so sure.

"Oh no! No, McGee, Ziva hardly ever has her phone off, don't say it!" Abby put her hands over her ears. "She wasn't inside! No! She's just… She just forgot to charge it and it died while she was sleeping but she didn't know that! Ziva's just out for a run, that's it! She'll be here soon, you'll see, she has to be!" Abby leaned into Gibbs, tears sliding down her cheeks, as McGee walked over behind her and began gently rubbing her back.

"Tell me she wasn't inside, Gibbs. This can't happen to Ziva. After all she's been through, she doesn't deserve it!" she whispered.

Everyone was quiet until an FBI agent and two bomb squad personnel walked up. The FBI agent cleared his throat and everybody turned and looked at him expectantly. He glanced nervously at Vance, clearly a rookie, before clearing his throat once more and beginning to speak. "Um, the fire department has cleared the building, put out the rest of the fire. They and the bomb squad are going to go inside now. They want to know if they should be on the lookout for anyone when they go through. Anyone in particular?" He looked at the group questioningly, shifting from foot to foot, and pulled at the collar of his shirt as if it had suddenly become too tight.

Finally, Gibbs spoke up. "A woman. Special Agent Ziva David. We haven't been able to contact her; it's possible she was inside at the time of the… explosion."

Vance nodded. "Go," he told the young agent. "Get people in there." He nodded toward the still-smoking building.

"Yes, sir," he replied and trotted off quickly, the two bomb squad people close on his heels.

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Review if you liked it or not! Please and thank you!! :)


	2. Ch 2 The Wait

**Here it is! Sorry it's kind of short but at least I updated right?And also, sorry that it took until now to do so. I got kind of busy this weekend and then I was going to write it earlier today but then I had to leave and go to my cousin's third birthday party. Anyway, read, review, and enjoy please! Thanks!**

**~NZA :)**

* * *

They all stared after the young agent as he ran off to inform his superiors. When he disappeared behind a bomb squad van, Vance walked off to go talk with another important-looking man standing nearby. The others turned back to face each other, all with sullen looks on their faces.

Abby was the first to speak. "Oh God," she said, wringing her hands nervously. "Oh God, oh God, I hope they don't find her in there!" She leaned her head on McGee's shoulder as he pulled her towards him comfortingly.

"Hey, you know, maybe she _wasn't_ in there." Tony said as he glanced nervously back at the partially-destroyed building. "I mean, it's pretty early… Hey speaking of, why would a bomber set a bomb to go off at like five in the morning? There aren't many people in there that early, not even the director."

"To make a point?" McGee guessed, shrugging the shoulder that didn't have Abby's head resting on it.

"Yeah, but what point?" Tony replied.

"That," Gibbs said, tossing Tony his empty coffee cup, "is what we're going to find out. In the meantime," he said, walking towards where the Director stood, "you can get me more coffee." Tony glanced down at the paper cup in his hands and sighed.

* * *

Tony tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the man at the coffee shop to get him Gibbs's order. _How long does it take to pour black coffee in a cup and slap on a lid?_ He wanted to get back to the Navy Yard to see if there was any news on Ziva's whereabouts.

Finally, the man slid the cup across the counter, smiling. "Sure you don't want anything in that, sir?" he asked. The kid couldn't have been more than twenty.

Tony shook his head. "No, my boss would kill me," he said in reply, spinning on his heel and rushing out the door towards his car. As he drove back to base, he realized how tired he was and that he should have gotten himself a coffee. He contemplated taking a small sip of the hot, bitter stuff he held in his hand but quickly thought better of it. Gibbs would somehow know and Tony wasn't exactly thrilled by the prospect of being slapped upside the head for all eternity.

He found Gibbs in the same place he had left him, standing with the Director, only this time they were talking to a different man who wasn't as important-looking as the previous one.

"Hey, Boss, here's your coffee. Sorry it took me so long; the kid at the coffee shop was pretty slow." He handed the steaming cup to Gibbs, who grabbed it and took a sip.

"Don't apologize, DiNozzo. Sign-"

"-of weakness, I know. Any news about Ziva yet?"

"Not yet DiNozzo," Gibbs replied, and Tony could have sworn he heard a bit of softness in the man's voice but, then again, he was exhausted and his mind could have just been playing tricks on him. "Go over with McGee and the others, I'll be there in a minute."

"Yes, Boss." Tony jogged over to the group.

Abby had moved from McGee's arms to Ducky's but had finally stopped crying. No one said anything; they just glanced around with worried expressions, hoping some news would come to them soon. Gibbs walked back over and still nobody said a word. Gibbs sipped his coffee, Abby sniffled, and everyone glanced questioningly at the Director as he rejoined them.

Vance simply shook his head in response to their unspoken question. The worried looks returned to their faces.

They all looked up at the sudden thudding of feet on pavement and watched as the young agent, who they'd learned earlier was named Andy Burrows, rushed over to them. He came to a stop next to Gibbs and Vance and bent over, hands on his knees and face as red as the ambulance parked ten feet away, trying to catch his breath. "I- There- The uh..."

"Spit it out, Burrows!" Tony barked, anxious to hear what information had the man in such a hurry.

"Sorry," Burrows sighed, seeming to have finally caught his breath.

"Well?" Gibbs asked, a bit irritated by the agent's slowness.

"Well, uh, the bomb squad guys think they found your missing agent. The woman."

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Thanks for reading and thanks to all of you who reviewed and/or favorited or subscribed to my story, it means a lot! :)


	3. Ch 3 FBI and Hospitals

Okay, I am sooooooo sorry that I haven't updated in, what's it been? Four months? Well anyway, I apologize. And I only have an excuse for the first couple of weeks that I didn't update and I know you don't want to hear excuses. To make up for it I made this chapter longer than the other two. Or at least I think it's longer. Please read, review, and enjoy and once again, sorry for the huge delay! :)

~**NZA**

* * *

No one knew what to say at first. Then everyone began speaking at once and the poor Fibbie took a few steps back, as if that would protect him from the onslaught of questions.

"Hey!" Gibbs yelled suddenly and they all fell silent again, attention on the silver-haired team leader as he turned back to Agent Burrows. "Continue," he commanded.

"Yes, sir. Uh…We think we found her… She's got a lot of burns a-and definitely some broken bones at the very least. But, uh, she will-"

Tony cut him off. "Is. She. _Alive_?" he said through clenched teeth, obviously impatient with this guy's rambling.

"Oh uh… yeah. She's alive. For now, at least. They're rushing her to Bethesda."

* * *

"Hell no, Leon! I don't want some dumbass, trigger-happy FBI rookie screwing up _my _investigation!" Gibbs yelled. They were still standing outside the partially-destroyed NCIS building. Most everyone else was gone and the rest of his team had left already, following the ambulance carrying Ziva to Bethesda.

Vance was slightly taken aback. But only slightly. This kind of thing was expected from Gibbs. He hated the FBI just as much as any cop or agent that didn't belong to it. "I don't care what you want, Gibbs. Frankly, I'm a little pissed because someone blew up my building, and I want them caught as soon as possible. That can't happen if it's just your team investigating. Which, might I add, is down one member, in case you have forgotten?"

"Damn it, Vance! I _know_! And I want to find whoever did this as much as anyone but a group of fresh-out-of-Quantico FBI agents isn't gonna help one bit!"

"I understand that, Gibbs. And I'm doing my best. But the director of the FBI doesn't feel it necessary to send one of his better teams into this." Suddenly Vance's cell rang. Giving Gibbs a 'stay put' look, he flipped it open and walked a few feet away.

Gibbs was agitated, to say the least. Who did the FBI director think he was? This case was important and he wouldn't settle for any rookies on his investigating team.

"Gibbs." Vance was walking back over to him. He didn't look near as annoyed as he did before. "Good news. That was Director Fillmore. He told me he's changed his mind. Fornell's team will be assisting you in the investigation."

"Good. I'm going to Bethesda. If he shows up here, tell him where to find me." Gibbs turned and began walking toward his car. He needed to get more coffee.

"Agent Gibbs," Vance called after him. Gibbs turned on his heel and raised his eyebrows at the director. "Play nice with the FBI. And find the bastard that did this."

Gibbs nodded and walked away.

* * *

The ER waiting room at the hospital was chaos. Both Abby and Tony were pacing the room, almost colliding with each other more than once. Ducky was trying to get one of the nurses at the front desk to tell him more about Ziva's condition. Palmer and McGee both sat quietly, looking too shocked to say anything. Among them sat other worried families that were waiting for news on their loved ones and the noise level in the place was beginning to rise.

When Gibbs walked in he just shook his head at the sight of his team and stopped in the entryway. "Hey," he said firmly. They all stopped what they were doing, or in some cases _not _doing, when they heard his voice. "I brought coffee."

"Gibbs!" Abby rushed toward him and gave him a tight sideways hug so as not to spill the tray full of coffee cups in his hand. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Hey, Abs." He gently pulled away from her embrace and handed the tearful Goth a Caf-Pow!.

"Thanks, Gibbs."

Slowly he walked around, passing out the drinks to his team. Finally he walked over to Ducky. "Here, Duck. Tea," he told the older man.

Ducky smiled. "Thank you, Jethro."

"Any news on Ziva?"

"None yet, I'm afraid. I was trying to get that nurse to tell me _something_ but-"

He was interrupted when a doctor walked into the room. "Family for Ziva David?" he asked, pronouncing her name the American way.

"Dah-veed," all six of them said at once, rushing toward the man.

"How is she?" Ducky asked.

"Is she okay?" Abby looked like she was about to cry again.

"Talk to us, Doc," Tony said, his voice hoarse. _Had he been crying too?_ Gibbs wondered. He'd have to talk to him later.

"_You're _her family? Because HIPAA laws state-" He stopped as six federal ID's were pushed in his face and someone's hand grabbed the collar of his shirt. He thought it was green-eyed man with the messy hair. "Okay," he continued and the hand gripping his shirt loosened and pulled away. "Okay. Never mind. Um, let's see." He glanced down at the clipboard in his hand and then back up at the six pairs of eyes staring at him intently.

"Spit it out, Doc," Gibbs commanded, growing impatient.

"Right, um, I'm Dr. Heppley. Miss David suffered several injuries, including second- and third-degree burns, deep cuts, and some broken ribs and a broken arm. She just got out of surgery and she definitely has a concussion. I don't think she has suffered any serious or life-threatening brain damage though. We've put on a respirator until we feel she will be able to breathe on her own which will probably be sometime tomorrow or the next day. Now, at the moment, Ms. David is in a coma. I'm sorry to say that I don't know when she will come out of it. It could be only a matter of hours or it could take days, even months. It's hard to tell. I will be monitoring her progress over the next few days so if you have any questions, call me." Dr. Heppley reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, handing it to silver-haired man with the icy blue eyes; he seemed to be the leader of the odd group.

"Can we see her?" Abby whispered.

"Yes, but it will have to be one at a time and only for a few minutes. I'll have a nurse escort you to her room." He turned to a woman standing nearby. She was clad in pink scrubs, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. Once, Tony might have thought she was pretty, but now all he could see were the woman's flaws. Her light brown eyes were a little too close together, her nose a bit too pointy, her lips a tad too thin. When had he started looking at women this way? He realized he had found him doing it more and more lately, comparing women he saw on the streets, at coffee shops, in the grocery store, to Ziva. _Why?_ he asked himself.

"Jackie." Heppley handed her his clipboard. "Could you take these people to that patient's room, please? Room 317. The visitor rules for her are specified on the clipboard."

"Yes, doctor." Jackie turned to them. "Follow me, please."

Silently, Gibbs, Abby, Tony, McGee, Ducky, and Palmer followed the nurse down the hall to Ziva's room.

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So how was it? The next chapter will be of them visiting Ziva one at a time. Sorry to say though that I won't be able to update until after school gets out. I'll be starting Driver's Ed soon. Thanks for reading! Reviews are very much appreciated! :)


	4. Ch 4 Visiting

**I'm sorry it's been so long but my updating habits are unpredictable. I've rarely been in the mood to write lately but I've finally gotten to it. At least with this fic anyway. I still have others that need updating and if you're reading any of my other stories, I apologize but I'm not sure when those will be updated. Anyways, here's the next chapter of this fic. The six of them visiting Ziva one a time. Sorry it's not very long or very good but most of this I wrote late at night and the rest I kind of rushed through. But please, read, review, and enjoy! :)**

**~NZA**

**Gibbs**

Since nobody with brains dared to challenge Leroy Jethro Gibbs, he was up first. Stepping quietly into Ziva's hospital room after the nurse had left, Gibbs tossed his now-empty coffee cup into trash bin near the entrance and shut the door behind him. He made his way over to the bed and dragged an uncomfortable plastic chair up to it, proceeding to sit down with a drawn-out sigh.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time, Ziver?" he whispered and placed his hand over the top of her smaller one. "It's always you and DiNozzo. I don't recall ever giving the two of you permission to nearly get yourselves killed all the time. And I certainly didn't give you permission to die so you won't be doin' that either. Got it?" He reached up with his free hand and smacked Ziva's head lightly so as not to jostle the tube currently shoved down her throat.

"Ya' need to wake up, Ziva. Don't think for a minute that I'm going to put up with Abby and DiNozzo's emotions for very long." Gibbs lowered his voice to where it was just barely above a whisper. "And I can't lose another woman in my life, Ziver. You and Abs are like daughters to me."

Slowly, Gibbs rose from the chair and bent over to kiss Ziva's forehead before leaving the room without another word.

**Abby**

After much whining and insistence, Abby was the next to enter the room. As soon as the door latched shut behind her, she rushed over to Ziva and embraced her in a surprisingly-gentle hug.

"Oh, Ziva! Oh my God, oh my God. Why do you keep doing this to us? Can't you just stay out of trouble for once?" She began pacing back-and-forth in the small, sterilized room. "I mean, we just got you back! And I know, it's not exactly your fault that all this bad stuff is happening to you. Like, how could you have known the building was going to blow up when you just happened to be one of the only people there this morning? You couldn't have. Right? Right. You had no idea. Didn't you? God, this is bad. Someone blew up NCIS and tried to _kill_ you!"

Taking a breath, Abby began to wring her hands as she paced. "Not…that that hasn't happened before, because it has." She paused momentarily. "The killing you part, not the blowing-up-the-building part because I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened before. Or has it? Hmm, that's something worth looking into. It could help with the case. Oh! And I'm totally not saying that this not being the first time someone's tried to kill you is a good thing. Cause it's not. At all. In fact, it's very, very bad. I'm just glad they didn't succeed."

Slowly, Abby walked up to Ziva's bedside wrapped her comatose body in another gentle hug. "I miss you, Ziva. Even though you're still here. And I really, really hope you wake up soon so try alright? We all do. Tony especially. You should see him! Anyways," she said, pulling away from Ziva while being careful not to mess up any of the tubes and machinery, "get better. Okay? I really don't want to lose another friend."

As she turned to leave, Abby said goodbye, promising to come visit again the next day.

**Tony**

Tony was next and, for some unfathomable reason, he was nervous. He had no idea what there was to be nervous about but he couldn't shake the feeling no matter how hard he tried. As he entered the stark white hospital room and shut the door, he stared at Ziva. She seemed so small among all the tubes and wires. Surprisingly, though, her face was relatively free of damage, save for a few minor cuts and bruises. The blast of the bomb must have knocked her to the ground face-down.

Carefully, Tony lowered himself into the plastic chair that was a hideous shade of green, not to mention extremely uncomfortable, but he paid no attention to that as he took Ziva's bruised and cut-up hand in his.

Now that he was closer he was able to view some of her injuries more clearly. Her left hand, the one he wasn't holding, was encased in a cast up to her fingers, as was the arm it was attached to, stopping just before her elbow. He couldn't see under the sheets and hospital gown but he was sure her ribs were wrapped up as well and that her legs probably didn't look much better than the rest of her. Just above the neckline of her hospital gown, he could see more cuts, burns, and bruises and he grimaced.

His rational side told him that with all the medications and whatnot, she was most likely not in any pain but he couldn't help but worry for just a moment that she might be.

"I need you to wake up, Zee," Tony whispered finally. "Look," he sighed. "I know it's stupid that it took you nearly being blown to bits and a whole lot of other stuff for me to realize some things but… I meant what I said in Somalia. I- I can't live without you, Zee-vah. So, uh… Please wake up soon so we can talk about this? 'Cause I think I'll feel really dumb if you don't feel the same way but…that's okay. As long as you know how I feel."

Tony paused, then scoffed. "God, who would've thought _I _would be the one to want to talk about feelings, huh? Guess times are changing." Tony stood to leave, glancing back one more time before leaving the room with a whispered "Goodbye, Ziva."

**McGee**

After being practically shoved into the room by Abby, McGee tentatively walked up to Ziva's hospital bed and sat down in the ugly chair resting next to it.

"Umm… Hi, Ziva. It's…uh… It's McGee. N-not that y-you didn't know that but uh… I don't really know what I should say. Or if you can even hear me, y'know?" McGee fidgeted in his seat. "Anyway, I hope that you get better soon. I think we all do." He rose to leave. "And don't worry, Ziva, we'll find whoever did this."

**Ducky**

Ducky slowly took a seat in the chair next to Ziva's bed and rested his wrinkled hand on her bruised one. "Hello, my dear," he whispered and sighed. "Oh this brings back memories of when Jethro was in a coma. Hopefully when you wake up, things will not be as bad, hmm? I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of looking over your charts and you seem to be doing quite well. That's not a surprise though, is it? You've always been a fighter. At least since I've known you."

Standing up, the elderly M.E. patted Ziva's hand. "I hope you will awake soon, Ziva. That way we can get to the bottom of all this and find the bastard responsible." After a sudden telling of some long story of his about one of his friends at Scotland Yard nearly getting blown up by a land mine, Ducky bid his farewell and left the room.

**Palmer**

Palmer was the last to enter room 317 and he planted himself in the plastic chair previously occupied by five of his coworkers. There, Jimmy sat in contemplative silence, wondering what he could say that wouldn't make him sound like a fool, which was so often the case in stressful or worrisome situations. After an awkwardly-silent minute, he decided to start off with a simple greeting.

"Hey, Ziva. I know we aren't that close, but I do hope you wake up soon and that you don't lose your memory like Agent Gibbs did. Because that would be…bad. Sorry, you…uh…you probably know that already. Well…get well soon, I guess!" He gave an awkward laugh before smiling at the woman who still scared him a little even after all these years before exiting to join the others leave the hospital. They had a case to solve.

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**As I say every time, reviews are much appreciated! And also, please check out the poll on my profile. Thanks for reading! :)**


	5. Ch 5 Settling In

This isn't a very long or exceptional chapter but an update is an update, is it not? Anyway, thanks to those of you who are still sticking with this and also thanks to any new readers for well… reading. Enjoy the chapter, even if it doesn't progress the story much if at all. I'm not really sure where I'm going with it at the moment. I may try to update again during my spring break (first full week of April) if some inspiration hits me. Thanks again.

~NZA

Early the following morning, Tony and Abby walked into the hospital to visit Ziva before going to work in the temporary office and lab in the FBI building that Fornell had set up for them. They met up in the parking lot and walked inside, not bothering to stop at the nurse's station on their way to room 317. Nobody stopped them.

When they reached Ziva's room, Tony and Abby walked right in and pulled a couple of the hideous chairs up to the bed.

"Ziva, please wake up!" Abby pleaded quietly, taking her friend's hand. "We really need you to tell us what happened yesterday."

"Yeah, Zee-vah. What were you thinkin', going to work at five in the freaking morning?" Tony reached out to touch her but retracted his hand before he actually did so.

Just then, a nurse walked into the room with a clipboard. She was startled by the presence of Tony and Abby but quickly hid it. "Hey," she said a bit sternly. "You two can't be in here. Not at the same time. Doctor's orders. I'm sorry but one of you needs to leave."

Abby stood quickly, before Tony could. "I'll go, Tony," she said. "Gibbs is probably waiting. And those FBI lab techs will be lost and useless without me, y'know? So you stay here with Ziva for a while. I'll tell Gibbs where you are."

"Sure. Thanks, Abby." Tony gave her a grin but it wasn't the usual one; it didn't reach his eyes. "Go show those FBI lab guys who's boss."

Abby smiled in return and left the room. Tony turned to watch her go and caught sight of the nurse still standing at the foot of the hospital bed.

"Anything new?" he asked her, referring to Ziva's condition.

"No. Sorry." The older woman gave him a sad, apologetic smile as she checked all the machines to make sure everything was in order. After a moment of silence she asked, "Boyfriend? Husband?"

The question caught Tony off guard and he shook his head adamantly. "Partner," he told her. "At work."

"Seems like more than that."

"We're just close," he denied. "We've known each other for five years. Been through a lot together. That's all."

"Mmhmm," the nurse replied, unconvinced. "Well, Ms. David's vitals look good. I think it's only a matter of time before she wakes up." She jotted a few things down on the clipboard hanging at the end of the bed. "The doctor might come in later to check on her. We might even be able to replace the intubation unit with a nasal cannula if he gives the okay."

"Alright thanks," Tony replied, still staring at Ziva's battered body.

The nurse stood quietly in the doorway for a moment, observing him. "If you ask me, five years is a long time to wait... See you later."

"Wait for what?" Tony turned but it was too late. The nurse was gone and the door shut behind her, leaving him alone with nobody's company but that of his comatose partner.

When Abby arrived at their temporary office in the FBI building, she found Gibbs and Fornell having one of their typical staring or, rather, glaring matches. But, Gibbs being Gibbs, broke it off as soon as he sensed Abby approaching.

"Hey, Abbs." He kissed her on the cheek. "You're late," he told her.

"Hi, Gibbs. Good morning, it's nice to see you too." She replied sarcastically. It was an uncommon occurrence, but tensions had been high as of late. "I was at the hospital." There was no need to elaborate. He knew what she'd been doing there.

"How is Agent David," Fornell asked the gloomy scientist.

"She's fine." She turned back to Gibbs. "Tony's with her. I told him he should stay for a while. Want me to call him and tell him to come?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Nah. I'll do it later. McGee," he called over his shoulder. The agent in question came up to them. "Take Abby to the forensics lab. Help those people start processing evidence."

"Yes, Boss." McGee led Abby to the nearest elevator and they disappeared as the silver doors shut behind them.

Fornell and Gibbs turned to face each other once again, sans glares this time. "Looks like we got a long case ahead of us, Jethro."

"Probably, Tobias. Probably."


	6. Ch 6 Leads

I'm writing this here author's note before I even write the chapter, which I feel in my gut is going to suck and probably be short. But whatever, I have a three day weekend (Memorial Day) and time to write (though I should be doing some of my schoolwork but hey, I did my precalculus homework, that's got to count for something right? Right.) and so I'm updating all of my stories. Anyway, enough with my rambling and enjoy the chapter I'm about to write.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it? No. And I'm not saying it again.

~NZA

* * *

She had hardly spent two hours here and she was already missing her lab terribly. The FBI techs were driving her up the wall and if it weren't for McGee's presence, Abby probably would have killed them all and disposed of the evidence by now. But alas, that would get her nowhere in solving this case, so she refrained. Not that they were getting anywhere anyway.

There was so much evidence from the explosion and so little time and expertise work with that it was all the Goth scientist could do not to rip her hair out and scream. She wanted her music, her lab, her babies. But she couldn't have any of those things because some IDIOT decided to blow up NCIS. And hurt Ziva in doing so. This, she would not stand for and so she continued working and ignoring the FBI lab techs until Gibbs, saving grace that he was, entered the lab with a Caf-Pow! in hand.

Abby grinned and bounded over to the fearless leader. "Gibbs! You're a lifesaver," she told him, taking the cup and sucking down a large gulp of the sweet and caffeinated red liquid.

A nerdy looking tech she hadn't bothered to learn the name of stepped forward, clearing his throat. "Um, ma'am, no drinks are allowed in the lab. I-" He stopped talking when two identical death glares were aimed in his direction and quickly spun on his heel, walking away without another word.

"Boss," McGee called, striding over to them. "We've got something you might want to see." He led them back to the computer station he'd been occupying for the better part of three hours and pulled up a few windows displaying test results and charts.

"Any day now, McGee," Gibbs said as Fornell joined them, handing his friend a steaming cup of black coffee.

"Right. So Abby and I have been looking through the test results from the swab taken at the blast site. The makeup of this bomb is an exact match to another bomb from two months ago. It detonated in a synagogue in Virginia, killing a rabbi and an elderly couple. The perpetrators were never found but it was suspected to be the work of a terrorist cell that has bases throughout the East Coast and a couple in, get this, Israel as well. I did some... stuff, and found that Mossad has been tracking them for years, slowly killing members off, but the cell just keeps gaining more people as others die. They probably consider themselves martyrs to the cause. They've bombed certain places in Israel in the past six years as well."

"Good work McGee," Gibbs began but the younger agent cut him off.

"Boss, there's more. Abby?" He turned to look at her and she nodded, taking over.

"Like Timmy said, Mossad has been tracking them for years. And Mossad's good, but so are these guys apparently. Though not that good. They had an administration change almost six years ago. Care to guess why?" She paused for a moment, continuing when she saw Gibbs's look. "Right. Of course not. It's because their first leader, Marid al-Masri, was killed by a Mossad operative. Of course, since they're this good, they already had a man ready to stand in after al-Masri's death. But in the past year, Mossad has gotten better at tracking them. The only member of the cell left alive in Israel is their current leader, according to Mossad's files. It's believed that they have been working solely in America for the past three months and the leader has been running the show from his hideout in Israel."

"You said al-Masri was killed by a Mossad operative," Gibbs interrupted. "Who?"

Abby smiled, her expression one that could only be described as the cat who ate the canary. "It was a group of four operatives actually. Michael Rivkin, Malachi Ben-Gidon, Aaron Katzir," she paused for a beat, "and Ziva David.

"Now," she continued, "we know Rivkin is dead. Aaron Katzir was killed two years ago in a suicide bombing. Malachi is safe in Israel. That leaves only one person in America, an easy target."

"The only thing is," McGee interjected, "Ziva's not usually an easy target."

Fornell nodded. "She went into NCIS so early for a reason and we all know it wasn't to please Gibbs and get an early start on work."

Gibbs voiced the question they were all thinking. "So question is, what made Ziva go there and why?"

* * *

Tony was extremely exhausted. He had been woken up early yesterday and had barely slept last night. He had yet to receive a call from Gibbs asking him to get his ass to work so he remained at Ziva's bedside, hoping she would wake up soon. Not just so they could get some answers, but so that he could be better assured that his partner was going to be okay.

As the minutes ticked by he continually found himself pondering the words of the nurse he had talked to earlier. _"If you ask me, five years is a long time to wait..."_

He knew what he wanted those words to mean. But what if he was wrong? Rather than put himself through further mental turmoil, Tony decided it would be best to try and get some sleep before Gibbs called him into work. Leaning his head down on the mattress next to Ziva's motionless hand, he closed his eyes, forced his mind to clear, and waited for sleep to claim him.

His eyes shot open. He didn't know how long he had been asleep, if at all, when a shrill beeping startled him into consciousness. He quickly raised his head from the bed and looked around, remembering where he was. And why he was there.

Beeping. That's what had woken him up. Beeping from Ziva's heart monitor. His eyes flashed to his partner and found that her own were open and she was struggling with the breathing tube. She was awake. Finally awake, he thought as several nurses and a doctor streamed into the room, pushing him out of the way to get to their patient.

It seemed like forever until he was allowed back at her side. The breathing tube in her throat was gone, replaced by a simple nasal cannula. When he sat back down in the chair he was greeted by her smile.

"Tony." It sounded more like she was gargling gravel.

"Water?" he asked, grabbing the glass of ice chips one of the nurses had left off the table. She nodded and he scooped a few chips up in the spoon, holding it to her lips for her to take.

"Thanks," she said after a few more ice chips. Her voice was still scratchy but sounded better than before.

"Yup," Tony replied, setting the cup back on the table. "Feeling okay? Don't lie to me."

She frowned, then smiled. "I have had worse. But I have been better," she admitted.

Tony smiled too, just glad she was alive. "Okay."

"Tony?"

"Yeah, Zee-vah?"

"What happened to me?"

"You don't remember?" She shook her head. Great. So much for getting answers.

* * *

And there we go. Not long but not as short as I thought it would be. I don't really like how this turned out but oh well. Reviews are appreciated but I won't beg or give you an ultimatum ;) Thanks for reading! Next update probably won't come until late June or early July, after I'm out of school. Sorry.


	7. Ch 7 The Email

Do you know how tired I am right now? Probably not. I didn't even do a whole lot today. What a boring and rainy and lame summer this has been so far. Ah well, still the first week so hopefully things will start to look up. Not that any of you care about my life. I'll let you get to reading now. Enjoy(maybe)...? Oh and just to remind you guys, I started this like last summer so that's when it's taking place. No Ray, no EJ, no P2P, no dead Franks :( and no mysterious folder from the new SecNav (who also doesn't exist in this story). Alright, that's all.

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Any and all mistakes are mine.

* * *

"What happened?" Ziva asked again.

Tony sighed. "Someone bombed NCIS. You were inside."

A look of shock registered briefly in her eyes before she asked, "Was anyone hurt?"

He massaged his temples. "_You_, Ziva. Just you. What were you doing at NCIS at like five in the freaking morning?"

Ziva seemed to ponder this for a moment before throwing Tony a light shrug, careful of her sore ribs.

Tony heaved another sigh. "You have two broken ribs and a broken radius. A concussion. Some burns and cuts," he told her.

"I have had worse, Tony. I am fine. I will be fine." She placed her hand over his where it rested on the bed.

He turned his hand over and squeezed hers, giving her a weak smile. "You're sure you don't remember why you were there?"

"I-" Ziva's brows furrowed in concentration. "I got an email. It was from... someone who is supposed to be dead," she said unsurely.

"Supposed to be?"

"Is. Is dead. I made sure of that many years ago."

"So you got an email from a dead guy. Why did you go to NCIS exactly?" Tony asked.

"To look into the email," Ziva replied.

"And it had to happen at five in the morning?"

Ziva shrugged again. "I was already up. I had just gotten back from my run."

His eyebrows rose. "At four in the morning? You're insane."

She chose not to respond to his remark.

Tony's lifted eyebrows suddenly drew in contemplatively. "Your car wasn't at NCIS," he realized. "That's why we didn't know where you were. How did you get there?"

"I told you two days ago that my car broke down," Ziva responded. He could detect a bit of annoyance in her tone. "I returned to my apartment after my run. I think that's when I got the email. Then I took the bus to NCIS. I would have had to leave in an hour anyway."

"You _think_ that's when you read the email?"

Ziva frowned. "I cannot remember exactly."

"What did the email say? And who's this dead guy that sent it?"

"I- I can't remember what it said. Or why I went..." She trailed off. "It was from a terrorist cell leader I helped take down... I do not know why he would even have my email, had he actually been alive. But he is dead." She looked Tony in the eye. "I know he is."

"Was it sent to your work email?" he asked. "What was the leader's name?"

Suddenly Ziva felt extremely tired. She yawned, eyes drooping, and let her head fall back into the semi-soft hospital pillow. "Hmm?"

"Hey," Tony patted her cheek gently. The cheek that did not have two stitches in it. "Stay awake. Just for a minute. What email was it sent to?" he repeated.

"Work," Ziva mumbled, losing her battle with exhaustion. "The terrorist... al-Masri..." Her eyes shut.

"Ziva," Tony whispered. No response. He sighed, giving her peaceful- and thankfully living- form a soft backward glance as he stepped out of the room, already pressing speed dial number two on his phone.

* * *

Gibbs pulled the buzzing phone from his pocket and flicked it open forcefully.

"Yeah, Gibbs."

"Boss, it's me," Tony's voice said from the other line. "Ziva woke up."

It took Gibbs less than half a second to register those words and start searching for his keys. "How is she?" he asked. Ah, there they were. He pulled them out of his jacket pocket and started walking in the general direction of the FBI elevators.

"She's fine, just in some pain. They took her off the respirator and gave her some drugs. She just fell asleep," Tony explained.

"I'll be right there."

"Boss, wait." Gibbs stopped walking and waited rather impatiently for his senior field agent to continue talking.

"I talked to Ziva about what happened. She doesn't remember a whole lot but there's some things you might want to tell Abby."

There was a pause. "Yeah, DiNozzo? Spit it out."

"She got a strange email. That's why she went in. Took the bus because her car's broken. Strange thing was that she said the email was from a guy she helped take down, presumably in her Mossad days. Some head honcho of a terrorist cell."

"Did she tell you his name?"

"By the time we got to that, she was getting pretty tired. She said a name though. Something like... Al Mazri? I dunno."

"al-Masri?" Gibbs clutched his phone tighter. "Marid al-Masri?"

"I guess that could be it. Why? Did Abby find something on this guy?" asked Tony.

Gibbs turned and began walking back to the lab, Fornell on his tail. He hadn't realized Tobias had been following him. "I let you know more when I get there, DiNozzo. Ten minutes." Then e hung up.

Striding into the lab, he called, "Abbs."

Abby and McGee spun around. "Gibbs! Back so soon?"

"Ziva woke up," he told them. Before she could start squealing and run out on him, Gibbs held up a hand. "She told DiNozzo a couple things she remembers."

"Like what?" asked McGee.

"I need you to look into Ziva's emails. Find the one she got this morning from al-Masri."

"al-Masri?" McGee repeated. "But he's dead."

"DiNozzo said Ziva told him she got an email from al-Masri and that's what made her come in early," Gibbs explained.

"That's weird," Abby commented.

Gibbs nodded, turning once again to leave. "Do that," he ordered. "Then you can go see Ziva." Then he and Fornell were gone.

* * *

Gibbs left the FBI agent behind and headed to the hospital. He bypassed the nurse's station, going directly to Ziva's room. There he found Tony sitting in one of the green plastic chairs by her bedside.

Tony turned when he heard his boss enter. "She's still asleep," he whispered.

Gibbs nodded and gestured for the younger man to follow him out into the hall. He took a few minutes to explain what McGee and Abby had found on the bomb and the terrorist cell- formerly run by Marid al-Masri, he'd added matter-of-factly - that was likely involved.

"This doesn't make sense," Tony stated.

"Tell me about it, DiNozzo. Something isn't right about all of this email business," Gibbs replied. They quietly made their way back into the room.

After a moment Ziva groaned. "Tony?"

"I'm here," Tony said. He wanted to reach out and grab her hand but he also wanted to keep his life, not commit suicide-by-rule-breaking with Gibbs there, so he resisted.

Ziva slowly opened her eyes, blinking them as she adjusted to the bright fluorescent hospital lighting. "Gibbs," she greeted, smiling when she noticed her boss and father figure lurking behind her partner.

Gibbs stepped forward and took her hand in his, causing Tony to push his bottom lip out in just the tiniest of pouts- No. Not a pout. DiNozzos don't pout.

"How are ya, Ziver?"

Ziva's smile faltered just a little. "I am fine, Gibbs. Sore and confused," she admitted, "but fine."

"Good. I don't recall giving you permission to nearly get yourself killed again," he admonished lightly. He gave her a light tap on the head, mindful of the concussion, and then a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Get some rest, Ziva. Abby and McGee will be here soon," Gibbs warned.

Ziva smiled again. "Yes, Gibbs," she replied with mock obedience.

He left shortly after, quietly telling Tony to "Keep an eye on her" on his way out. Not that he needed instruction to do so.

* * *

So I wrote the beginning author's note like a week ago and didn't feel like changing it but good news! Things did look up and it has been in the high seventies/low eighties all week! That might not sound like much but that's pretty nice and warm where I live, especially after months and months of rain and gloomy weather. Anywho, thanks for reading. Sorry it wasn't especially long.


	8. Ch 8 Frantic Nurses and Bomb Bits

Apologies for the delay. Here's the next chapter. Sorry it's short.

* * *

When Ziva opened her eyes she found Tony asleep in one of the green hospital chairs by her bed once again. This time, his head was tilted back- his neck would NOT feel very good when he woke up- and his jaw slack, a thin trail of drool fell from the corner of his mouth and down his cheek. He was also snoring. Ziva held back a snort of amusement, not wanting to wake him as he probably needed the sleep.

She shifted into a sitting position- or as close to one as she could possibly get- and suppressed a hiss of pain when her broken ribs were strained. She flexed the fingers of her left hand, staring at the snow white cast encasing the forearm above them. Something was not right about the email, the bomb, the entire situation. Ziva frowned, frustrated that she was now stuck in a hospital because of her own stupid decisions. And though she had little doubt that Tony or Gibbs or the others would waste any time in refuting such thoughts, she couldn't help but blame herself anyway.

With an aggravated sigh, Ziva used her good arm to fling the bedsheets off and then slowly slide her legs, mottled with small cuts and burns, over the edge of the bed. She pressed her bare feet to the chilled hospital floor and tested her weight on her ankles. Both were fine. She pulled out her IVs and briefly considered hooking her pulse monitor to Tony to keep the nurses unaware before trashing that idea and simply unclipping it. This action was followed by a rapid beeping and then a straight, even beep.

With a noise so much like a goose's honk it was almost uncanny, Tony startled awake. Ziva limped slowly away from the bed, muscles aching from the impact of the explosion.

A stout nurse hurried in, followed by a second, lankier one as Tony heaved himself out of the chair. "Ziva?"

"Miss David!" the stout nurse called, flicking her wrists frantically. "You shouldn't get out of bed!"

"Ziva, what the hell are you doing?" Tony questioned, now alert and rushing with the nurses toward his partner.

Ziva shrugged and glared at the frantic nurse as she tried to lead her back to the bed. "I needed to use the restroom."

"So you yanked out your IVs and hopped out of bed? Ziva, you just got blown up!" Tony waved his arms in the air emphatically.

Ziva frowned. "It is not as if it hasn't happened before," she grumbled. "I am not an invalid."

"Miss David, PLEASE," the plump nurse pleaded. The young lanky nurse was fixing the machines, finally stopping the shrill beeping. "You need to get back into bed!"

"What I NEED," Ziva growled, "is to go the bathroom! I do NOT need people tassling me!"

"Hassling. Not tassling. Ziva, come on," Tony reached for her, dropping his arm immediately when she tossed him a dark glare.

"Miss David," the female nurse reasoned, "if I allow you to use the bathroom will you then go back to bed?"

"Yes," Ziva huffed. She turned and limped into the closet-sized hospital bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

Tony sighed in exasperation and shrugged at the nurse apologetically.

* * *

"I got into Ziva's email," McGee announced. "Gibbs said..." he trailed off.

"What, McGee?" Abby stared at the screen over his shoulder.

"I found the email," he replied, scrolling through it. "Gibbs was right. It's signed by Marid al-Masri. But that doesn't make any sense."

"Why not? You don't think someone could have just signed the email as al-Masri? It's not rocket science, Timmy."

"No, not that. I mean, why sign it with his name when Ziva _knows_ he's dead? What's the point?"

"To let her know what the connection is?" Abby suggested.

"Maybe..." He enlarged the email screen and read it aloud. "'Dear Ziva David, Welcome to the United States. You work for America, solving crime for its Navy. We work for America, cleansing it of the Jewish filth. You and I have unfinished business, Ziva David. The cleansing is not complete. Marid al-Masri. Ma'assalama.'"

"What's the last part?" Abby asked.

"It's transliterated Arabic," McGee responded. "I think it means something along the lines of 'go in peace.'"

Abby nodded, then frowned. "They practically threatened her, McGee! They _did_ threaten her! Why didn't she tell someone? Why did she have to go to NCIS and get hurt again?"

"I don't know, Abby," McGee shrugged. "It was early. You know Ziva, she doesn't like people worrying about her. Besides, there's nothing we can do about that now. What's important is finding out how the bomb got in and where this email came from. Okay?" He eyed her softly as her pigtailed head slowly bobbed up and down.

"I want to go see her," she whispered.

"I know, Abbs, me too. But you heard Gibbs. Find the information on this email and then we can go." McGee copied the email address and started working on a- somewhat illegal- trace.

"Okay," she sighed. A thought occurred to her. "What if they blow up her house, too? Or the hospital? If they find out Ziva's not dead, they'll keep trying to kill her!"

"Abby, just calm down, okay? I'll talk to Gibbs about. For now, just focus on the current bomb," McGee ordered gently. The Goth scientist complied and returned to work, occasionally throwing the FBI techs glares when they got in her way.

At last, McGee declared that he had obtained the email information. "Anyone can create an email under any name, of course," he told Abby. "The email server is one of those independent ones that no one's really ever heard of. They registered under Marid al-Masri's name and gave as few details as possible, so there's nothing there. I traced it back to the IP address it was created from and it was a computer at a public library in Virginia with no form of security. The email will get us nowhere," McGee concluded.

Abby patted his arm. "Good luck telling Gibbs that. I, on the other hand, have found something useful."

"What?"

"Judging by the blast pattern and the levels of destruction, the bomb had to have been planted in the main elevator and sent up to the squad room. Now, unless Ziva took the stairs this morning, she had to use that elevator to get up there and she's not blind. She of all people would have noticed a bomb, right? So they must have planted it _after_ she got upstairs, meaning they were in the building right before the blast! To go right through those thick elevator doors, it had to be a big bomb. I estimate that it contained about 200 grams of explosives, plus about five ounces of lighter fuel to make it an even bigger boom. I also found a piece of a timer, so it was built to detonate after a set amount of time, giving whoever planted it enough time to get out of there," Abby finished, taking a deep breath.

"So basically, the bomber sends Ziva the email, follows her to NCIS, waits until she goes upstairs, then plants the bomb in the elevator, and runs away?" said McGee. "How did he get a bomb past security?"

"Didn't you read their statements?" she asked. "There were two guards down there. They were surprised by Ziva coming in so early but they didn't expect any other employees to show up, so they went to the main floor break room for coffee." Abby shook her head. "How could they be so careless?"

"What about the janitor? Didn't they say there was a janitor in there, too?"

Abby nodded. "Hank. He was cleaning in Cyber Crimes, pretty much as far from the blast as he could get while still in the building."

"So they really didn't plan on killing anyone but Ziva. It's only her they want dead."

"Yes," Abby agreed. "But Ziva is still alive."

"So their goal isn't complete. Which means... They'll probably keep trying until it is."

* * *

I'd just like to assure you that I do not think that the Jewish faith is filth and I do, in fact, have Jewish friends, Muslim friends, Christian, Catholic, Hindi, Atheist. You get the picture. I also know very little about bombs, so pardon me if the information in this chapter is way off or ludicrous. Anyways, thanks for reading and I apologize if this chapter was subpar at all because it felt that way to me. I'm not sure when I'll update again but (self promotion alert!) check out some of my other fics while you wait ;)


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